


Mothers and Killers

by Hammocker



Series: Pure Oswald/Victor Works [5]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Season/Series 02 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-03 02:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5273516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hammocker/pseuds/Hammocker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Don't die. I'm attached."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mothers and Killers

**Author's Note:**

> I need to stop writing things impulsively, it's terribly distracting and I'm never certain of quality.

**Crack**. **Crack**. **Crack**.

Oswald stared down his makeshift range. Two out of three bullets had hit the practice dummy's torso. He wouldn't be using a pistol that night, but he needed to blow off some steam. A ball of stress, anxiety, and anger had been tangling itself into Oswald's gut for weeks and he couldn't bear it anymore. He had to kill Galavan. He had to avenge her, even if he died in the process. If he died, at least the knot of emotions would be gone and he'd be with his mother. He could finally be at peace.

“Oswald?” a voice said from behind him.

Right. He had called Victor. Dear, loyal Victor. Everyone else already had their orders, but Victor's particular skills were needed for a particular task.

“I'd like you to rein in Butch,” Oswald said, placing his gun down on a table and turning to face Victor. “Galavan and his ilk broke his conditioning and I want him back.”

Victor didn't move, but the intense, hunter's stare Oswald was used to getting from him was gone. His eyes darted downward every few seconds, like he was thinking about something.

“What are you waiting for?” Oswald demanded, gesturing towards the door out. “Go!”

“Oswald,” Victor repeated, softer than before.

“What?!” Oswald snapped.

Victor looked over his shoulder once before turning back to meet Oswald's eyes. No longer the hard stare of a predator, but something more human than Oswald had ever seen in the hitman. It made him go quiet.

“I lost my mother too,” Victor said at last. The statement came out awkward, like the words had come from unrelated sentences and been mixed into something coherent. Like Victor was trying to emulate sympathy, but had no idea how.

“Oh,” Oswald said. “I didn't-”

Before he could finish, Victor stepped forward and pulled Oswald into a firm embrace. It felt more like a strangle hold than a hug per se, but it wasn't unlike the protective grip Victor often gave him in bed. It was familiar and comforting by extension. Oswald leaned forward and pressed his head against Victor's chest. He wanted to whimper and cry, but he had done enough weeping already, with and without Victor. Oswald couldn't give in to the temptation. He needed to be steadfast.

Oswald pulled lightly against Victor's arms and was released instantaneously. He stepped back, took a deep breath, and looked up at Victor. He was greeted with a cautious smile.

“I'll get Butch,” Victor said. He blinked a few times before tilting his head. “You don't want my help with Galavan tonight?”

Frowning, Oswald shook his head. “I'm afraid you don't fit into that plan, no.”

“I'd have his head,” Victor pleaded. “I'd have it in seconds if I could get close.”

“I appreciate that, but this is something I need to do myself.”

“I would champion your name, like I have before. He would be your mark.”

“It's not about names or marks, Victor,” Oswald hissed through his teeth. “He killed my mother. I need to kill him.”

“You might be the one killed,” Victor said, reaching out to place his hand over Oswald's heart.

“Yes. I might,” Oswald sighed, bringing one of his hands over Victor's.

“I want- I _have_ to protect you from being killed.”

“I have to protect myself sometimes.”

“I could kill you right now, if I wanted to,” Victor said, a melancholy hanging over threatening words. “I don't like to think of you having to fight someone as proficient as me without me.”

Oswald let out a breathy laugh. “I doubt there's anyone in Gotham as proficient as you.”

“You wouldn't know until you were a target.”

“I have a plan,” Oswald assured him. “All will go well, Galavan will die, and I'll return to you in one piece.”

Victor's expression seemed less than reassured, but he nodded.

“Don't die. I'm attached.” His hand slipped from Oswald's chest. “Shamefully attached.”

“I'll be fine, Victor. I promise you.”

Victor hesitated before leaning forward and pressing his forehead up against Oswald's. It was a gesture Oswald was scarcely familiar with; Victor had on occasion bumped their foreheads together affectionately, but never in such an intimate fashion as he was just then. Such close eye contact might have made Oswald nervous with anyone else, yet Victor managed to make it feel right. He could get used to moments like this.

“If you break that promise, I may have to kill you,” Victor said flatly.

Oswald didn't know how to respond. It was both a threat and an endearment and words he could only ever expect to come out of Victor's mouth. Perhaps it was the closest thing to “I love you” that Oswald would ever hear. He hoped Victor would understand his silence.

It felt like ages had gone by before Victor pulled away, breaking their eye contact. And what a loss it was, like being thrown from a warm, familiar bed onto hard, cold concrete. Oswald hadn't wanted it to end.

“Good-bye, Oswald,” Victor said, dipping his head.

With that, Victor took his leave, pushing his way out the door, and leaving Oswald alone. If there was one person he would miss if he died that night, it was Victor Zsasz. Maybe dying wasn't such a viable option after all.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lot more story before this fic with these two that I've gotta cover, but this came quickly and naturally after I watched episode seven and I don't like to squander that kind of motivation. I want to write stuff to lead up to their relationship here, but that's a lot of ground to cover.
> 
> Victor's dialogue is some of the hardest to write. I'm used to writing him as having a tendency to speak in dark, oddly poetic, but still kind of disjointed phrases, but with Gotham, he's a lot more terse and blunt and a little sardonic, and it's weird, but I hope it's okay.


End file.
